WASHINGTON, US — Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as Lake America on its Maps service for users in the United States, following President Donald Trump’s order to change the lake’s name in official US records.
The change does not apply uniformly across the two countries. Users in the United States will see “Lake America”, while Apple Maps users in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario”.
Apple has not immediately commented on the change.
The move follows a similar decision by Google, which recently adopted the name “Lake America” for users in the US while retaining “Lake Ontario” for users in Canada.
Trump ordered Lake Ontario renamed
Trump’s administration ordered the name change as part of a wider dispute with Canada that has included escalating trade measures.
Under an executive order signed by Trump, the US Department of the Interior was given 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the official US database for geographic names.
US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Apple was specifically urged by Trump to update the name on its Maps platform to comply with the executive order.
The renaming has become another flashpoint in relations between Washington and Ottawa amid a broader trade dispute.
Apple follows Google
Apple’s decision follows Google’s move last week to change the name for users in the United States.
Google said its Maps service is updated to reflect name changes contained in official government sources.
As a result, users in the US see “Lake America”, while users in Canada continue to see “Lake Ontario”.
The technology company took a similar approach in 2025 when it changed the name displayed for the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for US-based users following another Trump administration naming directive.
Google’s decision over the Gulf of Mexico prompted opposition from Mexico, which later sued the company over the change.
Apple also adopted “Gulf of America” for US users on its Maps platform.
Canada rejects the new name
The renaming of Lake Ontario has been rejected by Canadian officials.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada would continue to recognise the body of water by its traditional name.
Ontario has installed a new sign at the lake stating:
“Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”
“Just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we’ve set up this sign to remind them, it’s Lake Ontario, now and forever,” Ford said.
The dispute has added a symbolic dimension to already strained relations between the neighbouring countries.
Trade tensions fuel dispute
The mapping controversy comes amid a wider trade dispute between the US and Canada.
Washington imposed new 50pc tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, according to the report.
Canada has responded by threatening “dollar for dollar” counter-tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s administration previously walked away from trade negotiations, citing what his office described as unacceptable demands from Washington.
Carney has also urged the Trump administration to “start being serious” and stop trying to appear tough before negotiations can resume.
The dispute over Lake Ontario’s name has consequently become part of a broader political confrontation between the two governments.
Not every map provider is following Trump
Apple and Google are not the only mapping services affected by the US naming directive, but not every provider has adopted the new name.
MapQuest, the free online mapping service, said in a Facebook post that it would not make the change.
The differing approaches mean the name displayed for Lake Ontario can depend on both the user’s location and the mapping platform they use.
Google has explicitly said that US users will see the US government’s preferred name while Canadian users will continue to see the Canadian name.
Lake Ontario’s history
Lake Ontario is the smallest of North America’s five Great Lakes and lies between Ontario, Canada, and New York state in the United States.
Four of the five Great Lakes — Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Erie — have names derived from Indigenous languages.
Lake Superior’s name comes from an anglicised French expression.
The competing names therefore reflect not only a current diplomatic dispute but also the long history and geography shared by Canada and the United States.
Lake America sparks social media backlash
The change has generated criticism and mockery on social media, particularly in Canada.
Trump has also posted AI-generated videos depicting him replacing a Lake Ontario sign with one reading “Welcome to Lake America”.
The episode has become a highly visible symbol of the increasingly contentious relationship between Washington and Ottawa.
For Apple and Google, however, the issue has largely been framed as one of reflecting official geographic naming sources for users in different jurisdictions.
That approach leaves users in the two countries viewing different names for the same body of water — a rare consequence of a political naming dispute being incorporated into widely used digital mapping services.
For Canadians, the name remains Lake Ontario.
For US users of Apple Maps and Google Maps, it is now displayed as Lake America.
